Large crowded areas, high concentrations of people are not so connected with each other.
Small Maine town rural living is way way different. More intimate, open, life freely shared, on a more personal level. I was at a Maine State REALTORS Convention & Trade Show this week to learn, network and improve my career. And at that Rockport ME venue, I ran into an old customer, familiar face.
Had not seen Mitchell Small for over thirty years.
The last time saying good bye after selling his Court Street Houlton Maine Victorian home. Having a red, white and blue sign with the country logo on his lawn. He ran a local heating oil delivery outlet of his family’s Maine petroleum products business. And while here tragedy happened.
His wife fueled up at Jack Forbush’s North Street gas outlet before getting on the south bound I-95 on ramp. To head downstate with their only child, an infant son.
The boy was strapped into the front seat of station wagon during the gas station fueling. That according to Jack Forbush’s recollection shared with the boy’s Dad I bumped into this week as a vendor at the MAR trade show.
But Small says his wife stopped on the other side of the Interstate rumble strip.Around the next exit in Smyrna Maine, the car left the road.
Down into a gully, hitting ledge out croppings that caused a total loss, twisted wreckage that claimed the mother, driver’s life.
Small told me there is no doubt in his mind his son would have perished too. Had the mother not shifted the location of the car seat from up front to the back. Once grapevine news of this accident spread around the small Northern Maine community where the Small family lived, locals took over. To help the Dad, husband left numbed, in shock and reeling from the loss of a wife, the mother of their son.
As luck would have it, with plenty of guidance from above, a Nanny, with the last name of Schools, a seasoned mom of ten kids if I counted right was tapped for the important job.
Already living near the small boy and his Dad’s home in an apartment made it easy to come back and forth to work. Take care of the lad, cook, clean and help run the home of the oil executive that suddenly had lost his wife. Was on the road a lot. Mrs School could come over in an emergency and was suddenly the new local grandmother on the spot. The son grew up and stayed in touch with this life shaper for the years spent in Houlton Maine.
The boy could not have had a better care taker come into the picture, his Houlton Maine home.
After losing his Mom. The slight, short new provider of love and attention living just next door. Was the perfect surrogate Mom for reading the nursery stories. Tying on the apron strings to help raise the small boy. Create a happy childhood of memories.
One by one others in the community stepped forth to add their contribution. To pitch in and take up the slack, fill the void caused by the car accident. The result of a stroke of the driver, the boy’s mother the conclusion of how it happened.
Mitchell Small says life went on, the boy is doing well I believe he said working in banking out of state.
Small went on to find love again. For the second time, he gratefully stated God guided the most perfect woman into his life. He got a second chance and life went on without much more than the garden variety bumps, bruises, events. Twists and turns. But he will never forget the generosity, the small town community spirit of willingness to pitch in, help he and his son out in so many ways.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com